Trisha Yearwood poses with the Humanitarian Award in the press room during the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.Photo:Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Trisha Yearwoodis having her moment at the2024 CMT Music Awards.
At Sunday’scountrymusic award show, held at the Moody Center in Austin, the singer and culinary specialist, 59, received the first-everJune Carter CashHumanitarian Award. With the inaugural award — named for the late music icon, who dedicated much of her career to philanthropy and uplifting rising artists in the country genre — Yearwood was recognized for her work withHabitat for Humanityand her own animal rescue organizationDottie’s Yard.
ActressJane Seymourpresented the award to Yearwood, who opened up in her speech how much it means to her to be mentioned in the same breath as Carter Cash and why she hopes to continue to live up to the title of the honorary award.
Trisha Yearwood accepts the June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award at the 2024 CMT Awards at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas on April 7, 2024.Hubert Vestil/Getty
Hubert Vestil/Getty
She described Carter Cash as “one of the most fierce, one of the coolest, most passionate women” and said she was “lucky” to have known her “a little bit.” Yearwood thanked “the whole Carter family” for “allowing my name to be said in the same sentence as June’s” and said, “It didn’t take very long to see that she embodied the very essence that this award is about.”
“June Carter Cash was a force and she was also married to a force. I know a little bit about a life like that,” said Yearwood, who has been married toGarth Brooksfor nearly two decades. “I know it wasn’t always easy, but she found ways to make sure to keep shining in her own light and she had no bigger fan than her husbandJohnny Cash. I also know a little bit about that.”
The three-time Grammy winner added, “I only hope with this to be a big a part of my community and as good a friend to fellow artists as she was. It can be really hard to stand up for what is right and what you believe in. June just did it. She walked the walk. She didn’t just say what she believed, she lived it, and she was strong in a very human way. So I just want to say that my hope is that we can all learn a little bit from June Carter Cash’s legacy and be a little bit more real, be a little bit more vulnerable, be a little bit less about me and a little bit more about us.”
Trisha Yearwood accepts the June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award onstage during the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 07, 2024 in Austin, Texas.Jeff Kravitz/Getty
Jeff Kravitz/Getty
The British star, 73, said, “Giving back wasn’t just a part of her, it was an integral part of who she was. Her voice helped shaped country music, but she also used it throughout her career to advocate for the underprivileged and help emerging artists find their path. Tonight, the inaugural June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award is being given to someone who lives and breathes that same philosophy: the one and only Trisha Yearwood.”
Seymour shouted out her applied to rally people “for causes she believes in,” including Habitat for Humanity’s Carter Work Project and Dottie’s Yard, and noted she’s “a staunch supporter of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, preserving the legacy of country music, while also lifting up new artists that continue to push the genre forward.”
Check out all of PEOPLE’s full CMT Awards coverage here.
Yearwood spoke to PEOPLE on the red carpet ahead of the show, sharing similar sentiments that she made later in the evening in her speech.
“It feels undeserved. I would like to talk to people who win humanitarian awards, I bet no one ever thinks they deserve to win one,” she joked. “To me it feels more like, ‘OK, now get to work.’ I am honored because I did know June Carter Cash just a little bit and she was such a powerhouse and such a light, so I’m honored that my name is in the same sentence as hers. It definitely makes me feel like I have a responsibility. I already felt like I did, but now I really do.”
Trisha Yearwood at the 2024 CMT Music Awards at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas on April 7, 2024.Rick Kern/Getty
Rick Kern/Getty
CMT announced in March that she would bereceiving the award.
“Trisha has a unique ability to rally a community, whether that may be families in need with Habitat for Humanity, or uplifting her fellow artists and entertainers trying to carve a path in the industry,” wrote the awards show’s executive producers in a statement.
Yearwood “embodies the bold strength of June, who tirelessly devoted herself to service and community, and the namesake for this award,” the statement added.
“Both multi-hyphenate trailblazers eloquently crafted a script for others to model, letting their hearts and authenticity guide their personal, professional and public lives,” concluded the statement.
Later in the award show, Yearwood delivered a special performance of her new single “Put It in a Song,” marking her first time on the awards show stage since 2019. The new song is set to appear on her forthcoming album.
Yearwood and Brooks, 62, currently appear on the Prime Video seriesFriends in Low Places, which chronicles the opening of theirFriends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonkin Nashville. Yearwood previously starred inTrisha’s Southern Kitchen.
The 2024 CMT Music Awards will air live from Austin, Texas' Moody Center on Sunday, April 7 at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.
source: people.com
